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 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

SEMINAR REGISTRATION, ON THE ROAD DELIVERIES, MVC INSPECTION UPDATE, AND THE RETAIL GASOLINE MARKET

For the last few weeks we’ve been talking about our Calibration & Regulatory Seminars.  We are pleased at the positive response so far, but we need as many people as possible to attend this important event.  This isn’t a joke – it’s about serious as it gets. 

I know that some of you may not be interested in hearing about gasoline calibration and underground storage tanks (and how it’s eating into profits) since you don’t pump fuel.  However, our discussion on the USDOL task force and how it could impact your business is just as important – and you should be there to hear it all from the folks who are handing out the citations! 

This week you should have a second letter with an invite to our seminar.  If you haven’t done so yet, complete the registration and send it in!!  I promise you won’t regret it.

For more details, you may also CLICK HERE to see our Calibration & Regulatory Seminars announcement.

The latest edition of our On The Road quarterly publication was sent out early this week.  If you haven’t received it yet, you should be getting it soon.  As you know, our October installment is our Voter Guide, where we bring you complete electoral coverage – from the candidates to where they stand on issues that affect your business to the logistics of what district you vote in. 

There’s a lot of good information and important insight in this issue.  Want to know how your legislator voted on an issue that helps – or hurts – your small business?  The answer is in there!  Would you like to know how current incumbents and newcomer candidates feel about a topic we’ve posed to them in our questionnaire?  It’s in there too!

So grab the latest OTR, pour yourself a cup of coffee, and devote 10 - 15 minutes to go through it.  There’s a lot of work and effort that goes into every issue, but especially in our Voter Guide.  If you want to make an informed choice on Election Day, and support candidates that support your establishment, then you owe it to yourself to read it.

Wednesday night, NJGCA attended the MVC public meeting on the future of the emission inspection program.  You received a series of Wildfire Alerts this week letting you know about the details on the meeting and reminding you to attend.  What’s more, many of you received a letter in the mail from me also filling you in on the meeting.

The purpose of this meeting was to gather public opinion to help shape and determine the next generation of inspections.  Though we’ve been writing about this for some time now, Wednesday night’s opening remarks clearly confirmed what we’ve been saying for weeks: MVC and state officials want to avoid the complicated, and often complex, obstacles that have plagued implementing past programs.  You know what I’m talking about – equipment problems, software-update deadlines, contract extensions, and general mass confusion.  Since our industry always bears the brunt of the repercussions from these obstacles, they clearly know that we want to avoid them too!

Another important point that they were obvious about was that all viable recommendations will be made to the Chief Administrator of Motor Vehicles and to the Governor by the end of November.  That’s not that far off!  What’s more, they hope to get out a new Request for Proposal (RFP) for new contractors wishing to bid on the new system by the spring.  The present contract with Parsons expires on May 2013, and like I said, MVC wants to avoid contract extensions and other delays.

For those of you who remember this process five years ago, you know that four vendors submitted their proposals, but ultimately Parsons prevailed and currently runs the program.  The recommendations that come out of this process will ultimately shape what gets to the Governor’s and Chief Administrator’s desks – and how many companies will bid on the next contract.  It continues to be my sincerest hope that the proposal will outline closing the CIFs and transition the system to an PIF ONLY program.

And what else was said at the meeting?  Well I can tell you that about 15 shop owners showed up to voice their opinions but NO members of the general public showed up to have their say.  With the public showing little interest right now, any success we have in shaping the direction of the next inspection program may come from small business owners like you!

As such, I would like to remind you that the MVC survey that was posed over the last two weeks MUST be completed.  If you still haven’t taken the survey yet, stop what you are doing and take it now by clicking HERE.

You don’t have much time left to get this one – the survey will only be open until this Sunday, October 23rd. 

I’m becoming increasingly more concerned with the gasoline marketplace over the last few weeks.  The normal reporting sources I’m looking at are showing that gas inventories are dropping because overall retail volume is down.  How can this be?  If you’ve been paying attention to the automotive landscape, the economy, and government regulations you know that there is enormous pressure on the automakers to come up with more fuel conscious products.  Yes, that includes electric cars and hybrids increasing in volume – and either not visiting your establishment (for electricity) or purchasing less gasoline from you because of more hybrid type vehicles on the road.

Of course, that’s not the only game in town.  The higher the mandate rises for new, more efficient engines, the further gasoline volume erodes.  Nationwide, inventories of crude, gasoline, and diesel fuel are lower than they’ve traditionally have been in the past.  Yet, even with volume down, these lower inventory levels remain adequate because demand has decreased.   Yes, both the pie – and the appetite – are shrinking at the same time. 

Think about it in its simplest terms: If a car owned by your most loyal patron got 20 miles per gallon yesterday, and is now getting 40 miles per gallon today, your volume is cut in half!  Yes, your patron is still visiting your location for every fill-up, but those fill ups are further in between and he’s going twice as far on a single tank. 

Don’t think that it’s happening?  Think again and see how Big Government is reacting to an obvious phenomenon.  With cars getting better and better mileage, gasoline tax revenues are down.  To a government bureaucrat and treasury bean counters, less revenue means less money to spend on social programs, pet projects, road construction, and every other money-spending-thing the powers-that-be dream up. 

So how do they plan on raising revenue?  By taxing new items, raising current taxes, and inventing new types of taxes.  You saw this with the cigarette tax, you’ve seen it with liquor taxes, you’ve seen it with tire-recycling-fees, and even real estate transfer taxes.  Now government officials are thinking of taxing motorists by the mile through GPS/E-Z Pass-type devices that will monitor the number of miles you drive and send you a bill.  How nice of them, eh?

Of course all of this comes as Washington is pushing new Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards that will raise the fleet average to 54.5 mpg by 2025.  Now that may sound like an easy thing to do with compact and subcompact cars now getting around 40 mpg, but remember this is an average.  That means they need to sell more small, fuel efficient models in order to be able to sell a handful of larger cars, trucks, and SUVs.  So how will they accomplish this?  Technology, new materials, and alternatives – all of which don’t come cheaply.  For every mile per gallon that automakers need to squeeze out, they need to add something expensive to compensate.  That may mean using more expensive (yet lighter) materials like carbon fiber, high tensile steel, or aluminum. It could mean shrinking the size of an engine but adding superchargers, turbochargers, and advanced software to make a smaller, more fuel conscious engine perform like a larger engine.  And of course it means developing and advancing alternative mediums like electric propulsion, biofuels, and hydrogen – which are all expensive and need a wider infrastructure to support it. 

Don’t think this will impact consumers?  Consider that the average transaction price on a new car has increased even as the size of new cars has decreased.  Put another way that means people today are paying more money for smaller vehicles. It also means that used cars are becoming more and more attractive to motorists when it comes time to replace their current vehicle.  That could mean good things for your repair shop, but bad news for automakers.

You can read a bit of insight on this phenomenon HERE.

Keeping all of this in mind, it is partially for these reasons that NJGCA has been making you more and more aware of the changing energy landscape.  As I’ve said before, You have to stop thinking that you are in the gasoline business…….you must think and understand that…….YOU ARE IN THE TRANSPORTATION  ENERGY BUSINESS!  You have to be able to service your future customers with new forms of energy for fuel and new technologies to maintain and repair.  Start paying attention to this now and read our Energy Examiner in the latest OTR.  Every issue is going to include an update on various alternate energy sources and what progress is being made to put them on the road.

My job is to get you thinking about the future so you don’t turn into dinosaurs and become extinct – So help yourself and get informed!  Think about all of the candle makers that never adjusted to the new technology called a light bulb.

Thanks for listening - See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

10/20/2011:
Small drop in state’s unemployment rate
Notwithstanding a loss of jobs, New Jersey’s unemployment rate saw a small drop in September, falling to 9.2 percent.  The new numbers represents a .2 percent decline in the state’s unemployment rate and brings New Jersey closer to the national 9.1 percent average.  Despite the lower job numbers, the state has gained 32,600 private sector jobs since January. 

10/19/2011:
NJ considers 42 new charter schools
The State Department of Education is currently considering applications for 42 new charter schools.  Charger schools are privately operated, but public funded schools that must go through an extensive application process.  The state currently has approximately 80 charter schools operating, with 25 more schools slated to open next year. Among the applicants are a military school, a series of online schools, and an alternative high school with smaller class sizes.  In light of so many new charter school applications and the need for adequate oversight, legislators and the Governor are investigating new charter school authorizing authorities. 

10/19/2011:
Governor proposes ‘Strategic Plan’ to create economic growth
In an attempt to spur growth and new development, Governor Christie has proposed a plan which would clear away burdensome regulations to permit new homes and businesses to be built.  The strategy focuses such development in cities and towns rather than open space and rural fields.  The plan was hailed by municipal officials and state authorities hope the strategy will help New Jersey’s major industries, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals and manufacturing.

10/18/2011:
University of South Jersey: Speculation on possible public college restructuring
Talk of merging some public institutions of higher education in the southern region of the state have sparked speculation on what form such a consolidation may take.  As a panel on higher education investigates a possible restructuring and realignment of higher education in New Jersey, some community and political leaders are openly theorizing on merging Rowan University with Rutgers-Camden, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Stratford, and the soon-to-open Cooper-Rowan Medical School.  While seemingly far-fetched, many political and academic leaders believe that such a move would not only streamline education and save funding during a difficult economic climate, but could also create a large research university in the southern part of the state to attract industry and development.  Many believe that such an institution could arguably compete with Rutgers’ main campus in New Brunswick and contend for national research funding.  South Jersey residents also feel that the creation of a ‘University of South Jersey’ would help to keep college-bound students from southern New Jersey in-state rather than attend schools in Philadelphia, Delaware, and Maryland.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES IN OUR “NEWS AROUND THE STATE” ARCHIVE 

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE

TMP Energy Solutions
Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh   signing up through our energy saving program. We know it’s difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an “accurate” analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available. 

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member’s usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #’s, meter #’s  service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Phil Apruzzi at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs.  Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund. 

Contact Phil Apruzzi at 973-376-0066 or email Phil at phil@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.